NBA Summer League Tracker

NBA TV Set To Broadcast 28 Games From Las Vegas 2007 NBA Summer League Presented By Adidas. Tickets for the 2007 NBA Summer League presented by adidas, the league’s summer showcase in Las Vegas for top free agents and members of the 2007 Draft class, are on sale now. Fans will be able to purchase tickets by calling 702-739-FANS, through UNLVtickets.com or by visiting the Thomas & Mack Box Office and UNLV Ticket Outlets.

* Denotes game broadcast on NBA TV SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE be played at the Thomas & Mack Center and the Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers and the Chinese National Team will tip off games on the first day of action at Cox Pavilion (full schedule attached). (Cont. on link).

The Low has graciously agreed to once again help cover the SL for us from Vegas at BadBoySummerCamp.

The site will be getting a facelift shortly, and I am looking for one or two folks who would be willing to post news from the papers and online to the blog until the summer league is over. You can PM me if you are interested. I can definitely use the assistance, and it's easy and simple with the opportunity to explore your inner sports writer if you want to take it up a notch.

Also, if you will be in Vegas for the Summer League, I'm pretty sure The Low would be happy to meet up with you at a game, and again, any observations/video/photos you have to share would be appreciated.

I planned to go this year to carry The Low's gear and act as a bodyguard (not that he needs one) but those plans have come undone and I won't be able to attend.

Feel free to post if you will be attending and I will do my best to help coordinate the PF community at AMIRSAMBFEST 2007. :D

here is the Pistons summer league roster. First round draft picks Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo, will play, as will second-rounder Sammy Mejia and Cheikh Samb, the 7-1 Senegalese center the Pistons acquired from the Lakers in last years draft. Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson are also on the roster, but it is not clear how much they will play.
There are two non-roster veterans on the team -- LaRon Profit, former Wizards guard who has four years of NBA experience, and point guard Walker Russell, Jr., son of former Piston Walker D. Russell who played in the NBDL last year. Rounding out the roster are Olimpio Cipriano, a 6-4 guard from Angola; Eddy Fobbs, 6-11 center from Sam Houston State; Ibrahim Jaaber, 6-2 guard from Penn; Ali Traore, 6-9 forward from France; and Joah Tucker, 6-5 guard from Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Terry Porter, Igor Kokoskov and Michael Curry will coach the team, which will play five games starting Saturday in Vegas.

Fobbs has rewritten school history and set the bar for future athletes that will wear a Bearkat uniform. Marlin said Fobbs has made as large an impact upon Sam Houston basketball as Senecca Wall and Donald Cole.

Having the chance to evaluate his rebounding skills very closely throughout his time on the court, we can say with some confidence that he does a very poor job boxing out his opponents and doesn’t seem to put much effort into going after rebounds that are out of his area—even having a few balls snatched right out of his hands by smaller opponents. For a guy who isn’t the tallest, explosive or most skilled prospect in the world, this has to be considered a serious cause for concern.

The Pistons will play five games in Las Vegas starting on Saturday. Pistons assistants Terry Porter and Igor Kokoskov and newly added Michael Curry will make up the team’s coaching staff.
Johnson, a restricted free agent, can’t officially re-sign with the Pistons until July 11 and is expected to miss the first two games.
Among the other intriguing names on the roster are Ali Traore, a 6-foot-9 power forward from France who some thought could sneak into the late first round, and Walker Russell Jr., son of ex-Piston Walker D. Russell and nephew of former NBA star Campy Russell. Russell played at Rochester High School and attended junior college before finishing his college career at Jacksonville State.
Traore, 22, is a native of the Ivory Coast. Though still pretty raw offensively, he’s got an NBA body at 240 pounds and is reported to have a wing span of 7-foot-5. He’s considered a good athlete with good footwork who can score with either hand around the rim but has very little in the way of a mid-range repertoire at this point.
Samb has been working out at the Pistons’ practice facility for a week since arriving from Spain, where he played professionally this past season. He’s added about 30 pounds since playing for the Pistons last summer after they traded Maurice Evans to the Los Angeles Lakers for his draft rights. The Pistons will use the summer league to evaluate Samb’s progress and determine if they have a roster spot available for him.
Maxiell was not expected to participate in this year’s summer league, but he asked the Pistons if he could and they gladly agreed. Also on the roster is second-round draft choice Sammy Mejia, a swingman from DePaul. The Pistons will get their first feel for what they can expect from Stuckey and Afflalo in Las Vegas. They’ll see about Stuckey’s ability to handle both guard positions and gauge Afflalo’s ability to score against athletes with size while looking for both to flash a special skill or two that would complement the play of the starting backcourt.

This guy (Fobbs) reminds me of a little known player from a small school (my undergrad school) in Kentucky called Murray State. That player was Popeye Jones, and while he never achieved star status, he had a pretty good career in the NBA. Small schools do occasionally produce some excellent talent...Joe D being one of the best examples.

- additional players in the summer league: Ali Traore and Walker Russell Jr.
- curry will be part of the coaching staff
- johnson cannot sign as a free agent until the 11th, so he is expected to miss the 1st two games
- maxiell was not expected to participate, but asked the pistons if he could, so he will be on the team
- samb has been in town for a week and working out with the team